Presents 

Revelation 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
 published at http://www.theseason.org/ 

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

 Now here is our revised study of:

"The Cup Discovered."

Genesis 45:1 "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me." And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren."

Joseph asked all of the Egyptians to leave the room, except only he and his brethren.

Genesis 45:2 "And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard."

Joseph was weeping openly, crying with joy, and unashamed for putting his brethren to the test; and they came through exactly as he was hopping they would. Joseph loved each of his brothers, and now he is about to tell them who he is.

Genesis 45:3 "And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?" And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence."

His brothers were in a state of shock, for standing before them is the very boy that they had sold into bondage, and now he is a man, and is the ruler of all Egypt, and the supplier of the food that feeds the world. At first they probably thought that this was a curse that God had put upon them, wondering if this man that was over all Egypt was playing some trick on them.

This is a type of Christ, and as Joseph appeared from nowhere, to be the saving and dominating person in their lives, so also at the seventh trumpet Jesus Christ will appear to save and claim his own also. Even the things that led up to this time of Joseph's revealing himself to his brethren, so also will the events that occur on earth be similar in both cases. The elect of God will be called up to give account of themselves, why they do not worship this one [the Antichrist] that the whole world, including most Christians believe to be Jesus Christ. Will you be deceived, or will you stand fast.

In this case, the son Joseph gives inquiry about his father Jacob; and on the last day, the inquiry will be of the Heavenly Father, by His son Jesus Christ. Do you see the picture? The entire event of selling Joseph into Egypt, his interpretation of the dreams, and everything that took place concerning this meeting was not at Joseph's instigation, but by God. Joseph was revealed everything that happened in dreams by God, and Joseph believed and trusted God to come through. And through it all not only Egypt was saved, but Israel also.

Genesis 45:4 "And Joseph said unto his brethren, "Come near to me, I pray you." And they came near. And he said , "I am Joseph your brother, Whom ye sold into Egypt."

Genesis 45:5 "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life."

Joseph is telling his brothers, don't blame yourselves for what has happened, for it is God that caused it to come to pass, and only to save the lives of our people.

When things don't go well in our personal lives, think below the surface of what appears to be taking place, for if you are in God's will, keep yourself open to be used by God in what ever comes about. Then things are going rough, and the testing is taking place, that is the time to praise Him, and trust Him. Then you can be used by God at His appointed time. God is the same yesterday, today and for ever; you can count on Him.

Genesis 45:6 "For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest."

"Earing" is the old Anglo-Saxon word for "plowing." There will be neither plowing nor harvest.

Genesis 45:7 "And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance."

To preserve you a posterity, is to keep Israel, the line that the true Christ, the Messiah and Redeemer Jesus Christ would come through. The great deliverance applies not only to these brothers and their families, but also the Great Deliverance that is coming when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth at the seventh trumpet, and Satan and his hoards will be bound for that thousand years.

Genesis 45:8 "So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."

Joseph is telling his brothers, yes I'm your brother, and God has brought me to this position. In the expression, "father of Pharaoh", means an officer of Pharaoh, in the Arabic.

Genesis 45:9 "Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, "Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:"

All the testing is over, and now Joseph wants to see his father.

Genesis 45:10 "And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen and thou shalt be near unto me, Thou, and thy children, and thy children's children and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:"

The land of Goshen is sheep country, with some of the best grazing land in all Egypt, along the Nile. This offer extends to Jacob's army, his servants, and all his animals; besides his entire family. The shepherd kings of the Hyksos had arrived and ruled Egypt prior to the Israelites, but now it will be the Israelites that dominate the land of Goshen.

The Hyksos (the first shepherd kings) came in war, and now the Israelites come in peace, and with the Pharaoh's blessings.

Genesis 45:11 "And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thy have come to poverty."

Joseph is telling his brothers to go back and tell their father to come to Egypt and I will take care of all of you, for there are five more years of this famine. If you don't come you will die, so come now.

Genesis 45:12 "And, Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you."

Genesis 45:13 "And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."

What Joseph is saying is that your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can better see the problem, and my glory in this high position, than my mouth can speak it. So you go down and tell it from your own mouths, by what you have seen and heard.

Genesis 45:14 "And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck."

Genesis 45:15 "Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him."

This is homecoming time, when all the problems seem to fade away, and the joy of seen them all well and there together was so good. All the hard feelings on everyone's part are gone, and Joseph knows that his brothers have real character, and his brothers have forgotten what Joseph had put them through. Now it is just the joy of being together again.

When our Lord Jesus Christ returns, this is just a sample of the great joy there will be in seeing him, and knowing that we will be with Him for ever more. This same kinship is shared today throughout the world in Jesus Christ. He loved us so much that He prepared the way for us to see through the hard times, yet the time will come when those hard times will be over, and the joy will far exceed what ever we must go through in this flesh age.

Genesis 45:16 "And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brethren are come:" and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants."

Joseph is the one that saved all of Egypt, of course Pharaoh would be pleased with anything that pleased Joseph.

Genesis 45:17 "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;"

Genesis 45:18 "And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land."

This is now Pharaoh talking and committing the very best of all Egypt to Joseph's father and his family. He is telling them that they can have the very best that Egypt has to offer. God prepared the heart of Pharaoh to receive all of Israel, and to provide them with the very best.

Genesis 45:19 "Now thou are commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come."

This is Pharaoh telling Joseph's brothers to take what ever they need to help you bring your father and your little ones to Egypt.

Genesis 45:20 "Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours."

Genesis 45:21 "And the children of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way."

Joseph was in a position to do the giving anyway, but is always better when we see that the offer comes from the Pharaoh himself. God mellowed the Pharaoh's heart and his mind, and he ordered it done with pleasure.

Genesis 45:22 "To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment."

When blessings come from God they are earned and paid for by faith, and works. Today that is faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty God, and the works are made by the studying of his word, and following those instructions in our lives. Joseph never got to the point that he did by laying in the sack all day, but by being prepared to be of service to God, and then following through with the plan that saved the lives of Egypt and Israel.

Genesis 45:23 "And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and meat for his father by the way."

Genesis 45:24 "So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them "See that ye fall not out by the way."

This looses a little in the translation into the English. What Joseph is saying is that they see to it that on their way back to their father Jacob, that they don't start arguing with one another, and getting into disputes. Don't start blaming one another for things that happened in the past, but think on what hast to be done. These brothers are just plain common folks, and family bickering can start over the smallest things.

Genesis 45:25 "And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,"

Genesis 45:26 "And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not."

Think on this for a minute; Jacob thinks his favorite sons is dead. Favorite because he is the first son of the first love of his life. He is now in his old age, and his other sons have just brought him this wonderful news. Then after all the trouble his other sons had while trying to buy food in Egypt, they walk in and tell him that Joseph is the governor of all of Egypt. Of course Jacob didn't believe them. Now there is cause for a lot of explaining; however the brothers were given the words to say to their father; and save the explaining. What a shock to Jacob. Think on that; a Hebrew governor of Egypt, after all the Egyptians even refuse to eat with the Hebrews at the same table.

Genesis 45:27 "And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:"

When Jacob went out side and saw the wagons, and supplies that Joseph had sent, Jacob came alive with excitement. At that point he knew that his boy was alive, and I can see him busting out with joy and hope. He was going to see Joseph.

Genesis 45:28 "And Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."

Notice the name change from Jacob to Israel, this is because it has to do with spiritual matters. This is also a spiritual type, where we will see a father see his son die and come alive again. The Heavenly Father say His only Begotten Son die, and come back to life to save not only His people, but all the people that would put their trust in that son. That is why this is a type, and that is also why Israel for the Patriarch is used. It means you have a forerunner, or a type of what will come to pass.

If it were not for Joseph and God's using him through Joseph's trust and faith, the family of Israel would not be spared, nor would the nation of Egypt, nor the lands around Egypt.

                             

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Rhine Publishing Co.
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